SOCCER
LANGWARRIN, Mornington, Skye United and Aspendale will fly the flag for local soccer in the next round of the 2025 Australia Cup. And they could be joined by Somerville Eagles who were due to play their Cup tie with North Caulfield last night (Monday).
Third-round preliminary ties in the national knockout competition are scheduled for a fortnight’s time, a week before the start of the State League season Langwarrin enters the Cup after the third preliminary round.
A young Mornington squad backed up by senior players James Clark, Jacob Brito, Jack McDonald and Halil Reki overcame the challenge of Rosebud 2-0 at Olympic Park last weekend. Rosebud and Mornington both had good chances to score in a game that was played at a furious pace in front of a huge crowd. It wasn’t until the 31st minute that the deadlock was broken when a corner for Mornington wasn’t cleared and the ball fell to Dylan Thomas who made no mistake from point-blank range.
The second half started poorly for the hosts when Jack Wyer was wrongly penalised for a handball in the first minute and Rosebud failed to track a near post run from Thomas who grabbed his second.
Rosebud remained a threat throughout with Connor Wharton hitting the side netting, Mark O’Connor missing a great chance from a few metres out and Alfie Harris drawing a fine save from Guido Guerrieri.
Skye United scraped past stubborn State 5 outfit Burwood City 1-0 at Burwood East Reserve on Saturday. In the 11th minute Ali Hazarah ran onto a ball played over the top of the home team’s defence before squaring for Elliott Craig to nab the winner. Skye was relatively untroubled throughout but with five minutes to go goalkeeper Steven Hadjikakou was sent off for a dubious handball outside the box and Daniel Attard pulled on the gloves for the final minutes of the contest.
Aspendale prevailed in a goalfest at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex on Saturday downing Melton Phoenix 4-3. Melton led 3-2 at half-time but after the break goals from Felix Hampson – who also scored in the first half – and Ben Garside sealed the comeback win for Gregor Macnab’s men.
Despite a bright opening Mentone was no match for Mazenod losing 9-1 with Marcus Spivey scoring for Mentone while Mount Eliza lost its Cup tie 5-0 to visitor Balmoral.
Peninsula Strikers’ goalkeeper Faraz Zenoozi and Banyule City striker Jake Montagnese will share everlasting memories of Saturday’s Cup clash at Centenary Park which saw Banyule City run out a 2-0 winner. Zenoozi was twice relegated to the role of spectator by two stunning Montagnese strikes – one in each half – that proved decisive.
The first came in the 34th minute when Montagnese let fly from outside the box and sent the ball rocketing into the top far corner giving Zenoozi no chance. But the best was yet to come and it was well worth the wait. In the 77th minute from just a few metres inside the attacking half Montagnese hammered the ball over Zenoozi who quickly backpedalled and threw himself at it in vain as it flew over his head and struck the net at pace. It was a goal that could have graced any stage of the world game such was its quality.
For periods of this hard-fought contest Strikers gave as good as they got but their downfall was up front where Banyule keeper Jordan Gifkins was rarely tested leaving Strikers fans to lament the unavailability of lightning-quick winger Campbell Steedman. And the fact that it took two spectacular strikes to down Strikers highlighted the outstanding display of central defender Steve Elliott who was a colossus at the back.
It could be a costly loss for Strikers as Wayne Gordon was shown a straight red in the second half.
The offence was rated as R5 (violent conduct) and carries a minimum three-match suspension.
Baxter forfeited its away tie against State 1 side Keilor Park as it couldn’t field a competitive matchday squad and believed that the fixture was of no benefit to either side.
That tied in with Frankston Pines calling off its friendly with Mount Martha so a hastily arranged friendly between Mount Martha and Baxter was arranged with the latter winning 4-1 at Civic Reserve on Saturday.
In VPL1 Langwarrin lost its third straight home fixture on Saturday night going down 2-1 to Brunswick City. Brunswick thought it had taken the lead from a Billy Tsiamis free-kick in the 26th minute only for Charlie Fry to head off the line. Three minutes from the break Langwarrin winger Cooper Legrand sent Cal Goulding clear on the left of the area and his cutback found his brother Luke whose firm strike cannoned off the crossbar.
The deadlock was broken five minutes into the second half. A Legrand cross wasn’t properly cleared and Brad Blumenthal’s shot fell to Cal Goulding who hammered the ball home from near the penalty spot. Three minutes later scores were level. Dylan Mcglade was felled inside the area and converted the resultant penalty.
Brunswick would have gone ahead in the 66th minute but for an outstanding reflex save from James Burgess but it didn’t have to wait long for the go-ahead goal. In the 76th minute the irrepressible Dylan Allshorn and Carl Jonsson’s quick one-two saw Allshorn skip clear on the right before squaring the ball to Jonsson for a tap-in. It was simple, effective and far too easy.
But this contest had another twist. It came in the form of substitute Tom Youngs who entered the fray in the 72nd minute and immediately sparked Langwarrin’s attack into life. A few minutes from time Youngs was brought down inside the box and a penalty awarded. Youngs took the conversion attempt but Brunswick keeper Nicholas Mooney palmed the ball onto a post and watched it bounce back across goal before being cleared. The result leaves the local outfit languishing near the foot of the table with just one point from four matches and facing a run of five straight away fixtures.
Yet head coach Jamie Skelly remains upbeat. “We outplayed Brunswick for long periods but we know that this is such a good league with good teams that if you don’t take your chances then there is the opportunity of being punished at the other end,” Skelly said. “This was back to a true Langy team playing with the grit and heart that I think everyone at the club values. “We are still positive and together as a group and our results will change.”
Australia Cup preliminary round 2 results:
Mentone 1 (Marcus Spivey) Mazenod 9; Aspendale 4 (Felix Hampson 2, Jared Kilmartin, Ben Garside) Mentone Phoenix 3; Burwood City 0 Skye Utd 1 (Elliott Craig); Peninsula Strikers 0 Banyule City 2; Mount Eliza 0 Balmoral 5; Keilor Park 3 Baxter 0 (Forfeit); Rosebud 0 Mornington 2 (Dylan Thomas 2); Somerville Eagles v North Caulfield (to be played Monday night).
Last week’s friendly results:
Berwick City 0 Mornington 2 (Dylan Thomas, Kieran Dover); Doveton 1 Skye Utd 1 (Yat Deng); Casey Panthers 1 Chelsea 7 (James Stinson 3, Liam Burford, Yodishtra Jagatheson, Andy Jenkins, Adam Dunsford); Mount Martha 1 (Tom Brewster) Baxter 4 (Daniel Bancroft, Jack Bradbury, own goal, Triallist); Seaford Utd 1 (Matt Cobb) Dandenong South 2.
This week’s VPL1 round 5:
Saturday 8 March
Manningham Utd Blues v Langwarrin, Pettys Reserve, 3.15pm
This week’s local friendlies (check social media to confirm kick-off times):
Thursday 6 March
Heatherton Utd v Chelsea, Bosnia & Herzegovina Centre, 7.30pm
Frankston Pines v East Kew, Monterey Reserve, 7.30pm
Friday 7 March
Mornington v Westgate, Dallas Brooks Park, 8.30pm
Saturday 8 March
Somerville Eagles v Skye Utd, Westernport Secondary College, 11am & 1pm
Baxter v Gisborne, Baxter Park, 1pm & 3pm
Rosebud v Pakenham Utd, Olympic Park, 5.30pm & 7.30pm
